Rumor: 17-inch MacBook Pro going unibody, no replaceable battery

MacWorld is almost here and there are definitely less rumors flurrying about what Apple may do than usual. One rumor emerging has to do with the refresh of the 17-inch MacBook Pro. The biggest MacBook was the only model not refreshed last year and it’s no surprise that Apple is planning to go with the unibody of all the new MacBooks. What is surprising is the rumor that has this model getting a non-replaceable battery a la the MacBook Air.

I can’t believe this is true as the only reason the Air has a fixed battery is due to lack of space. That’s certainly not true of the big 17-incher so I can’t believe that Apple would take the ability to augment battery life away from the mobile worker by fixing the battery in place like the iPhone. The rumor also states that Apple is going with a super new battery technology that will last much longer than those in the other MacBooks. Even so I will only have one word for the fixed battery rumor should it come to pass: FAIL.